Pneumatic tire for wheels.



HENRY N. CARRAGHER, OF FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

PNEUMATIC TIRE FOR WHEELS.

Specification of Letters `Patent.

Patented oet. 31, 1911.

Application led February 15, 1910. Serial No. 544,001.

Be it known that I, HENRY N: CARRAGHER a citizen of the United States, residing at Fall River, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Relating to Pneumatic Tires for Wheels, of which the following is a specification, reference be- I ing had therein to the accompanying drawhe principal objects of the invention are: first, to provide means for reducing to a minimum the force of shock resulting from the wheels, say, of an automobile, contacting obstacles in the roadway, and from other causes; and I attain this object by arranging between the 4rim of the wheel and the vprotecting tread, an air cushion which is y In this way, the thrust of the wheel against the air cushion between the rim and the tread of the wheel, may, by compression, be

. distributed through an arc of, say, 180 de- Vgrees ofthe length of the air cushion. Second: to' prevent cracking or crushing of the aircus'hion. -And'I attain this object by a further feature of my invention, which resides in the form given to so much of the surfaces of the trough and the rim of the wheel as come into contact with the air cushion, and tend` to effect a change in the cross sectional area of the air cushion. If these surfaces are such as to cause the air cushion to assume an angular, as distinguished from a-curved, cross sectional contour, the cushion is likely to crack along lines containing the contour angles. Nowit is my purpose to avoid, as much as possible, the production of these cracks; and I do so -by giving to these surfaces such cross sectional areas that the corresponding surfaces of the air cushion during the oscillating movements of the wheel rim, these surfaces will compel the will always assume suitable curves; that is,

lexible sides of the air cushion to roll upon .these surfaces in predetermined curves,

vatread, an vair-cushion, and a troughv therefor, that can be combined to form one elementfand be removably secured to the rim of a wheel. Fourth: to provide means for securing the air cushion in a fixed relation to the rim of the wheel. Fifth: to provide an air cushion having a non-puneturable -Wall portion. Sixth: to provide new and useful details of construction whereby the above mentioned objects, and also others as will hereinafter'appear, can be readily attained.

In the drawings, illustrating the principles of'my invention and the best mode now known to me for embodying the same, Figurer l is an elevation of so much of an automobile wheel as will suicient-ly disclose my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the wheel; Fig. 3 is like Fig. 2, except the air cushion is shown expanded transversely, the tread having been forced toward the rim 'of the wheel.

A wheel A, provided with spokes B, hasA bosses or studs 7, 7, to tit and be locked into the series of intermittent grooves 4, et, in the main rim. These grooves are accessible from the sides of the main rim by side openings 8, Fig. 1, through which, in mounting the auxiliary rim, the bosses may be moved into the plane of the intermittent groovesin the main rim of the wheel. This method of securing the auxiliary metal rim to the main rim is more fully disclosed and claimed in an application for United States Letters Patent for locking devices for detachably securing a rim to the felly of a wheel, Serial No. 615,7 23., filed by me March 20, 1911.

r mnietrically cut in the outer adjacent sur aces of thelike parts 5, 5, of the auxiliary rim is a common locking slot 9, into which a lock portion of an air cushion l1 may be inserted, and then gripped between l, (l l) breadth is greater than that of its deptln The lock portion of theair cushion comprises two adjacent lips 15, l5, which, when l in contactwith each other, conform in cross through the section to, but are slightly larger than, that of the locking slot 9 in the auxiliary rim. When these lips 15, 15, are in the loch slot, and the nuts 13 on the bolts 12 are turned up, they become centrally secured in the convex :tace of the auxiliary rim; and, at the same time an air tight joint at their junction is formed throughout the length of the air cushion. To complete the air cushion, the sides 14, 14, also have similar lips 16, 16, fastened to the inside bottom portion of a non-puncturablc metal trough or shield comprising two metal sides 17, 17, and a base 18. In the adjacent faces of the base 18, and each side 14 of the trough, is formed a locking slot 19, to seize and hold the corresponding lip 16 on the otheredge of each of the two sides 14, 14, of the tlexible air cushion 11. The metal sides 17, 17, of the shield are fastened to the sides of the base 18; and the lips 16, 16, of the tlexible sides 14, 14, are securely gripped in the lock slol.. 19; by turning up nuts 2O on bolts 2l passsides of the base. rl`he base, 1n conjunction with the llexible sides, thus completes the air cushion, and provides its outer circunlterence with a non-puncturable wall.

The sides 17, 17, of the trough or shield flare outwardly and upwardly from the base, and then approach each other and engage the auxiliary rilu. The trough thus serves to guide the oscillating wheel rim; to aid in the formation of the air cushion; and to protect the air cushion all of which is inclosed by the metal trough.

A tread 221 ot' suitable material, say hard rubber or leather, is provided and held on theI outside ot the base 18, by a metal ring 2t ou either side of the hase 1S; there being a tongue on the inside ot' the tread which dovetails into a corresponding space iornied by the outside oit the base 18 and the sides ot the retaining rings 24. ,lhe inside eirculnference ot' each ring 24 is provided with sel ations 26, Fig. l, which interlock with corresponding serrationsl 27, toruud in the outside surface oftI the sides 17 ot the shield or trough. lflveryot-her serration ot each sido ot the shiel d. permits the nut 2() and its holt 21 to bind the sides .and the base together, while every other sei-ration 2G in the ring 24 is provided with a bolt 28 and nut 29, the bolt passing through the rings 24 and -the base .18, so that when the nuts are turned up on the bolts, the rings tirrnly tix the metal tread to the base ot the wheel. By this construction, viz. by removing the rings, the tread may be taken oitl and restored, or a new one put on, without. interfering with the assembled auxiliary rim, air cushion, and trough, all of which remain as a unit.

To exclude gravel land Water from the interior of the trough, a covering 41 of waterproof material closely tits around the spokes of the wheel and loosely covers the outside of the telly and extends out and over the inner edges of the shield adjacent to the auxiliary rim and the telly, Where it is secured as by screws 42.

From the above description, and an inspection, particularly, of Figs. 2 and 3, it will be evident, that the sides of the trough, being rigid and contacting the auxiliary rim, will always hold the base of the trough, and the tread in the plane ot the wheel; that the :torni of the sides ot' the trough and the form of the air cushion and the method of securing the cushion within the sides of the trough, are such that the air cushion is free to expand transversely Without iin erference with the sides of the trough; and. turther, that by reason of the fact that the inner surface of the auxiliary rim is con wx in cross section, and the air cushion is een! rally disposed and secured in relation to the convex contacting surface of the auxiliary rim, the thrusts due 'troni the oscillations of the auxiliary rim in relation to the base of the trough, or to the tread oi2 the wheel, are freely resisted and absorbed by one half, that is 180 degrees, of the, circumference ot the air cushion, and the'tlexible sides ot' the air cushion roll back and forth on t-he convex surfaces ot the auxiliary` rini, to an extent depending upon the extentot said oscillations; but it will be noticed that the normal curvature of the cushion, and the convexity of the auxiliary rim are such that the convexity of the auxiliary rim prevents the `contacting crack the sides et the cushion.

The air cushion may be inflated through a suitable inflation tube, notI illustrated.

Desiring therefore, to protect my inven tion in the broadest manner legally possible, what i claiin istl. A trough for an air cushion, comprising a base portion and two side portions; bolts and nuts to secure said side portions to said base portion, said sides having their bottoni. portions serrated; said trough con stituting a unit; a tread, tongue shaped in cross section and removably mounted on the outer circumference of the base of the surface of -the air cushion j troni assuming an angle that would tend to trough; two retaining rings having serra-4 tions corresponding to the serrations in the sides of the trough, said rings engaging the tongue portion of the tread; bolts passing through the alternate serrations'of the rings and the baseV of the trough, to secure the rings in place; all designed to permit the tread to be removed from the trough unit without dismantling said trough unit.

2. A Wheel :telly having a rib mounted on its outer circumferentialsurface; said rib consisting of two adjacent ring portions having centrally and circumferentially formed in the outer surface thereof a lock slot, from the outer side of which the surfaces of said rib recede outwardly and rearwardly toward the axis of the wheel; an ir cushion having two stripsy of suitable elastic material, two of the four edge vor lip portions ot' which are gripped between the sides of said lock slot, so as to hold the air cushion in proper relations with the inner contacting surface of the wheel felly, andy at the same time, form an air tight joint at and between the lips; said air cushion eX- tending transversely beyond the. sides of the rib; a metallic trough comprising a base portion, and two side portions that engage the wheel telly; there being formed in the adjacent surfaces of each side portion and the base portion a common slot; the other two edge or lip portions of the air cushion itting into and being engaged by the sides of said two lock slots; means to secure said side portions to said base and compress said lips or edges in said loclr` slots, to form between the contacting surfaces of said base and said edges or lips of the air cushion, an air tight joint; said side portions extending outwardly and upwardly from the base in such a manner, that the sides of the air cushion are tree to expand transversely, the convex surface of' the rib and the convex surface of the air cushion being substantially tangential; all designed to prevent cracking and puncturing of the air cushion.

3. A wheel provided with spokes; a continuous strip of non-metallic ilexible waterproof material' provided with spoke-holes in water tight engagement with the outer end portions of said spokes; a wheel rim aiiixed to the end portions of said spokes; a trough comprising a base and two side pieces engaging the sides of the rim; an

air cushion located between the tace of the wheel rim and the base of the trough; and

means for securing the edges of the waterproof strip or covering to the sides of the trough for the purpose of excluding gravel and water from the interior of the trough; the side portions of the said coveringbeing sufficiently full to permit the said rim to oscillate in relation to the tread of the wheel without destroying the said covering.

4r. A trough, having an air cushion, comprising a base portion and two side portions; a tread tongue-shaped in cross-section and removably mounted on the outer circumference of the base of said trough; two retaining rings that interlock with said trough andengage the sides of the tongue shaped tread for the purpose of retaining the said tread upon the outer circumference of the base of the trough; and means to secure said rings in place on the base of the trough; all designed to permit the tread to be freely mounted upon, and removed from, the base of the trough without dismembering the trough. l

1n testimony whereof I aiiX my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HENRY N. CARRAGHER. Witnesses: I FOSTER R. GREENE,

LoDwiNE LEMOINE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each,by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

